Importance of Farm Safety

Importance of farm safety and appropriate health and safety culture on farms is often literally a matter of life and death. According to the Irish Government, farming is one of the most dangerous occupations in Ireland.  Unfortunately, there are an average of 20 fatal incidents on farms every year. In addition, there are around 2,800 serious injuries annually on farms. Many of these are life changing and place the farmers’ livelihood and farm at risk.

 

Common Stressors

There are a number of reasons that might affect farmers to neglect their own and overall farm safety. Sometimes this is the farm work itself such as extremely heavy work load extending 9-5 work hours. Farming is often a 24/7, 365 days type of employment. Most farmers are self-employed and often this heavy workload is not shared. If the farmer does not complete the task, it will remain uncompleted. Usually, there is no one else to pick up the task.  In addition, there are other stressors such as worrying about animal health. Losing a single animal can cause a domino effect and jeopardise financial existence. This in turn might not affect only the farmer, but their whole family. And beyond.

Equally, there are other ‘invisible’ stressors which are often ignored or parked to one side. These ‘invisible’ stressors might include feeling isolated, health issues, relationship conflicts and financial difficulties. The ‘work’ and animal welfare usually come first. Mental wellbeing usually comes last.

Lastly, farmers are often their own manual labour, accountants, lawyers, farm managers, mechanics, health and safety officers, sales agents, etc. They take care of all labour, paper work and ensure regulatory compliance.

 

Ignoring Farm Safety

Whilst importance of farm safety is often taken on board by many, it might lose its priority once it gets lined up against common stressors of farming. Unfortunately, when making decisions, most people have biases and take short cuts which often leads to poor decision making. ‘Animals need to be tended. It will take just a second, no need to use a cattle crash’. ‘I need just a bit of pesticide. No need to use protective equipment. I’ll be careful‘. ‘I am busy. No time for this health and safety stuff now. This can wait.’.

With this in mind, developing a safe process for each task on the farm and having the strength to follow that process, is an important step in ensuring you stay safe. This is regardless of whatever else is happening.

 

Working Towards Farm Safety

It is critical to recognise the importance of farm safety. The following are just a few tips for how to achieve this:

Conduct Safety Training Regularly

eLearn Safety has a number of fully online health and safety courses that can be of benefit to a farmer. These can be found in Farming and Forestry course section. In addition, a significant amount of useful information can be found on the following websites: Farm Safety Hub, Teagasc Farm Safety, and HSA Agriculture and Forestry.

Maintain Farm Equipment

Faulty and outdated equipment are major risks to farm safety. This is because these machines are more likely to fail when employees use them. This can result in costly and dangerous incidents in the field. This is especially true when dealing with heavier equipment such as tractors and plowing machines.

Handle Chemicals and Hazardous Products with Extra Care

It’s common for farmers to handle various hazardous chemicals and products during farming activities. This is because part of the agricultural process involves giving certain chemicals to the plants and produce to fight bugs and other pests. While these pesticides and chemicals are effective at keeping pests at bay, they can be dangerous for humans.

Invest in Alert Systems

Understanding when there’s an emergency or incident is crucial for smooth and safe operations in any business, farming not being an exception. So, make sure that your farm has an efficient and functional alert system in place so that you always stay on top of your personal safety.

 

Online Health and Safety Training

Proactive Health and Safety training is critical to ensure a safe workplace. An effective training program can reduce the number of worker injuries and deaths. It can also reduce instances of property damage, legal liability, illnesses, and missed time from work.

Health and Safety training helps establish a culture in which employees themselves help promote proper safety procedures while on the job. It is important that new employees be properly trained and embrace the importance of workplace safety. The role of training in developing and maintaining effective hazard control activities is a proven and successful method of intervention.

This is why we have established eLearn Safety school. We pride ourselves in how we guide, support and mentor our students. They receive support throughout their learning experience and into their working lives. Our staff have extensive training experience and also have many years industry experience. We understand the challenges that exist within Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety. Our priority is to ensure that all learners are fully prepared to differentiate themselves in the workplace after completing our Health and Safety courses.

eLearn Safety offers fully online Health and Safety courses.

To find out more, please check our Courses page.

Alternatively, should you need any additional information, please do not hesitate to let us know via email info@elearn.ie